If you haven't noticed, we have just come to the end of our second Leave it Better Week!
We are completely blown away by the response from the week and have some incredibly insightful feedback and findings that are only going to keep growing the positive impact we can have.
Before we dive into the details of how the week went, we want to take a step back and look at the whole premise of Leave it Better and why it sits at the heart of what we do here at CampWild…
The Foundation: Nature Connection
There is no doubt in our minds that we all need to regularly spend time camping under the stars. It is a catalyst for connecting us to nature! This connection is an essential building block to becoming an ambassador, advocate, and protector of the great outdoors. You are only going to protect something if you love it!
For us, it is critical that wild camping is done in a way that is sustainable and safeguards spaces so that wildlife and habitats can continue to thrive, and future generations can retain this vital connection. For us, this begins with education; it's the starting point of the journey to understanding and developing a deeper relationship and connection that will, in turn, change our values and behaviours. There will always be people who have not started this journey, and it's our job as a community to steer them in the right direction to create a movement that changes the way the UK interacts with our beautiful green spaces.
It is our vision to normalise the adventure of sleeping under the stars and connect hundreds of thousands of people with nature and these hidden landscapes. The education and planning tools the platform delivers allow anyone, no matter their experience, to find, access, camp, and connect to 'Wild Spaces' in a sustainable way.
The CampWild Code: A Blueprint for Responsible Wild Camping
Undoubtedly, one of the most positive actions to come from Leave it Better Week is The CampWild Code. We have worked tirelessly to deliver a platform that educates, facilitates, and inspires responsible wild camping, and to be able to create this guidance alongside the government.
Over a year in the making, the CampWild Code is the foundation for what responsible wild camping can and should look like.
In collaboration with The Countryside Code, the Code, originally created to enable responsible access to our network of Wild Spaces, has now evolved into a benchmark for the behaviours and values that everyone should adopt when setting out on a wild camping adventure.
"Together, we will build a culture of respect & responsibility when sleeping under the stars, protecting our wild spaces to leave them better for the next generation to enjoy."
To read & download the full CampWild Code, visit www.campwild.uk/campresponsibly or The Countryside Code website.
Community
It’s no secret that the biggest ingredient that fuels the fire behind this growing project is you, our community! During Leave it Better Week, we heard your voices, saw your actions, and felt your deep alignment with the principles, values, and ethos that drive this project forward.
Over the last year, we have seen over 500 of you head out to Wild Spaces in a sustainable way by staying aligned with our members' code. This conscientious way of camping means these spaces remain protected and habitats can thrive while we enjoy participating in the wonderfully connective experience of camping. You have set a standard for what wild camping can and should look like, which in turn means we can continue to successfully grow the network of Wild Spaces across the UK. We did not deliver this, you did! This project is completely being driven by you and your commitment to accessing the outdoors in a sustainable way, and for that, we are truly thankful.
We are unwavering when we say that the community is the beating heart of CampWild. It is you who will carry the message of what sustainable camping can and should be. Thank you.
The Future: Your Say
If there is one thing that is certain, it's that we will never stop moving, adapting, and striving to improve what we do. So in the spirit of looking forward, we wanted to lay down some objectives for Leave it Better Week 2025, and we want to hear how you would like this to look…
The principles of Leave it Better and the core ideology of CampWild can be broken down into three core areas:
Connect:
We know that becoming a champion for the outdoors starts with experience! This then forms a connection, and the rest follows! We are well aware that not everyone has access and the means to get into nature and particularly experience wild camping, so we want to connect the dots between these beautiful Wild Spaces and those who need them most.
Across 2025, we will be launching a scheme that will allow you to refer individuals, groups, or organisations to us that need access to nature and would benefit from a night under the stars. We are committing to 100 free memberships that include full access to our network of Wild Spaces across 2025, and with the support of our brand partners, provide kit for those who need it.
As we lay the foundation for this, we want to hear your thoughts and referrals for those who you think would benefit from this. Just respond to this email with who they are and why they need it.
Educate:
It's crystal clear that sustainable access that protects nature can only be delivered with the right education, and that means we need to start talking about it.
Over the course of 2025, we are committing to running six workshops that deliver the principles of the CampWild Code and Leave it Better, all completely FREE. We want to hear from you to connect with schools, businesses, and groups that you feel would benefit from this.
Inspire:
You know that feeling when you get a fire in your belly and you are fully committed to the cause!? Well, that's what we want to light—1,000,000 fires across the UK. Feeling inspired is the starting point to action, and we want to bring this to life across the next year by bringing you (and others) together for five community action days.
What better place to start these than Wild Spaces? We work with some positively beautiful hosts that are doing amazing things within these spaces, including conservation, rewilding, regeneration, and beyond.
We are going to be hosting five days that will facilitate supporting actions that improve landscapes. Watch the space within CampWild connect as we release details on how you can get involved in these days.
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